Family
by CrazyFM
Summary: They were his family, they had taken him in, but now he had to decide if he wanted to stay with him or wanted to follow the path of his parents. Will he disguise who he is or will he live his life? Nice!Dursleys Harry has to choose, if he wants to have a family or if he wants to go to Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

**Family**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I don't make any money with this.**

**Now there is only one thing to say: Enjoy!**

When Petunia Dursley opened her door on November the first, to find her little nephew on the floor, she was shocked. She didn't want that child of her witch-sister!

Her first thought was how to get rid of the child, her second thought however was directed at her sister. What happened to her?

Petunia Dursley had always been jealous of her little sister, but she didn't hate her, as much as she wanted to think it. She didn't want her sister to die.

Reading the letter, that the infant held in his tiny hands, hurt. A lot in fact! She had never thought, that someday she would get such a letter, never thought, that her little sister would die before her. She was a witch for gods sake! If she had known things may have been different between them.

And yet here she was, reading that her sister passed away, written in that infuriating neat handwriting of the man, who had always denied her to visit Hogwarts.

And for a moment she felt hatred, pure hatred, for the man who parted her and Lily, for her parents, who always loved Lily more, for her sister, who left her behind and for the little baby with the big scar and the unruly black hair, sleeping innocently in her arms.

He would be like THEM, he would be a wizard! She should get rid of him, so Dudley wouldn't have to suffer as she had suffered!

But then, yawning a little, the tiny boy opened his eyes, his big, green eyes, the eyes of her little sister. He looked her in the eyes, with his sad, yet trusting green eyes, knowing that he was alone, knowing, that he was an orphan.

That was the moment when Petunia just knew, that she had to keep little Harry. She couldn't change what happened between her and her sister, but she could take care of her sisters first-born child, the little baby who had her eyes.

Nevertheless she swore to herself that morning, that she would never tell him what his parents were, never tell him about the damned school that parted her family.

**This is NOT going to be a incredible long story, but I just felt inspired writing it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and tell me what you think and if there are things you want to read in this story.**

**Thanks for reading and have a nice day.**

**For those of you who might read my story "The Marauders and the pilot", don't worry I will update in the next days, but some reviews would be wonderful.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP**

**Warning: Some bad words in this chapter, nothing to bad I hope, just wanted to warn you, better safe than sorry.**

**Thanks to all, who read this story and even followed it! You are the best.**

**I sorry for the long wait, but school got in my way :(**

**Enjoy!**

Petunia Dursley didn't know how long she stood there, in front of her house, the little boy in her arms.

Time seemed to slow down, while her mind progressed the consequences of her decision. Now they had a second boy to care for, the Dursleys were by no means poor, but they were not rich either. Also Vernon would not be pleased. He was a wonderful father for Dudley, but their son was a normal boy and Vernon loathed everything abnormal, especially her sister.

Yes, he knew about her sister, she told him before the wedding, in case he would meet her someday, but he didn't know the whole story.

She told him what her sister was and that she hurt her, but she never told him, that she always wished, in fact still wished that she could have gone to Hogwarts, that things would have been different. She knew he would understand, feared that he would leave her. So Vernon Dursley never knew what really happened.

He loved her, so he hated her sister and all of her kind for doing this (whatever) to his Tuni.

Suddenly the small heap in her arms began to shiver uncontrollably. Remembering how cold it was she hurried inside, ready to face the things that were to come.

Petunia had been right: Her husband was not pleased with this new addition to their family.

When he first entered the kitchen that morning, little Dudley on his arms, and found his wife feeding this unfamiliar kid he had been surprised.

"Who is that?", he demanded to know, a bit annoyed, that this kid was sitting in Dudley's chair.

Never had he envisaged the answer he was getting.

"It's my sisters son, she is dead so we get to care for him."

"Wha... What?!", he barely managed to choke out, completely shocked. Already he was turning deep red.

"You mean Lily Potters son? In our kitchen? Get him out now! I am not going to tolerate that filth here! He will be just like THEM! Don't you remember what she did to you, didn't she hurt you?"

And so he would have continued hadn't Petunia interrupted him.

"Stop it", she said, quiet but firm.

Her husband just stared at her, turning an interesting shade of grey.

"Vernon,..", Petunia began, knowing that he could explode every moment. "Let me explain..."

"Explain? EXPLAIN?! All this years I saw you suffer, because of your..."

"Don't you dare say it!", she said more fiercely than she ever spoke with him, shutting him up effectively.

"Vernon, please, I love you and I can't do this without, but Harry needs to stay, he has nowhere else to go and he hasn't done anything wrong. After all that happened Lily was still my sister and I still love her, he is her son! Her only son! I need him to stay, please understand."

Anxiously she looked at him, silently begging him to understand.

"We will need a second high-chair", was all he said.

**Instead of writing this right now I should be doing my Maths homework, but my Notebook, which I need for them, just got crazy, AGAIN(!) and it all didn't work, then I got really frustrated and wanted to throw the damn thing out of the window, but I decided to write this instead.**

**As you can see I was not really in the best mood, but writing always helped me with that as it did now, still some reviews would help me even more. Also I would like to know your opinion to this little chapter. So please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

**Disclaimer: I write FANfiction, that tells us what?**

**Sorry for the long wait, I didn't really know where to continue and to be honest even if I had known I hadn't time to write...**

**This chapter is dedicated to RainbowDeathEater, for the kind review.**

**Enjoy!**

For the moment Vernon just kept his little boy on his lap while feeding him. In front of the high-chair Petunia tried to feet little Harry, but Harry wouldn't eat.

While Dudley seemed quite content with the arrangement, chattering happily in baby talk.

That was the moment when Petunia noticed that her sisters little boy hadn't made a single noise since he got there.

For the first time she realised what her little nephew must be through right now.

Feeling a pang of affection towards him, she picked his little form up, humming soothingly to him, stroking his little shock of black hair. When she sat down on the kitchen chair she began rocking back and forth, back and forth, all the while keeping the toddler near her chest, until finally the little body began to shake with sobs. The boy was crying desperately for several minutes, until he fell asleep exhausted.

When Petunia looked up again she caught Vernon staring at her, an unreadable expression on his face. When he caught her gaze he looked away. Only Dudley seemed completely oblivious to the on goings, he was to engrossed in lubricating his fathers clothes with his pulp.

For a lack of other options Petunia went upstairs to put the boy in Dudley's crib, laying the baby monitor out besides him.

By the time she got back down her husband was tickling her little son, scolding him laughing for ruining his clothes. For a moment she just stood there, smiling at the scene before her, leaving her worries behind for a brief moment. Still she couldn't help, but wonder how many more of this moments she would see in the future. She already cared for her young nephew, but she feared that having him here might destroy her little families happiness, like discovering Lily's "gift" had.

She gathered her courage and entered the kitchen. Wordlessly Vernon handed her their son before he went to change his clothes. Soon after, he entered the kitchen again, saying his goodbyes to his family and left to go to work.

"Vernon", Petunia stopped him in the doorway, she just had to know that he still wanted to be with her, that he accepted her even now, that she brought this unwelcome new responsibility over them. She couldn't afford to lose anyone else because of magic.

"I understand, Tuni", he answered her unspoken question softly. "I do not like it, but I understand."

With that he left.

**Okay, I realise this wasn't exactly what you wanted, I mean it was really really short and I am sorry for this (please don't throw rotten fruit). This just seemed to be a good moment to stop.. However I hope to update more in the next days, to make up for this short one...**

**In the mean time I would love some reviews, especially I'm not really happy with this myself! Was it good, was it bad, was it awful, was it okay, what did I get wrong, what did you like, what horrible grammar mistakes did I make, what would you like to read in future chapters,...? And so on.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Readers: Oh, really? *cough* sarcasm *cough***

**However, I hope you like this chapter. :)**

Petunia turned around, to give her filthy son a bath. Things would eventually work out on their own...

After that she got him up in the living room. Sitting him on the floor she watched him play. A little smile tugged her face as she watched her little son, solving a little puzzle consisting of only six parts. As soon as he finished he lost interest and instead began to crawl around in the room, babbling to himself. Petunia was just beginning to relax, when she heard a low whimper. It was coming from the baby monitor, little Harry was awake,

At first she tried to ignore it, surely the little boy would go back to sleep soon. The whimpers made her want to run up and hug the child, make the nightmares go away, only she just couldn't bring herself to do it and it made her feel incredible guilty.

Petunia Dursley found herself to caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. She couldn't leave her little Diddy alone, but she couldn't just ignore the crying boy upstairs, not anymore. Also she didn't want to take Dudley with her, to meet the other boy. She wanted to keep the interaction between the two children at a minimum, because she knew, if she didn't watch closely to prevent it they would become like brothers. Petunia couldn't let that happen, Harry would only hurt Dudley.

So there was only one solution left. She elevated Dudley in her arms and went upstairs. Then she put him back down in his playpen, giving him his favourite storybook, hoping that he would be fine and went to sooth Harry.

She felt bad leaving her only son like this for her nephew, but the whimpers were increasing in volume every passing second.

"It is the only possible solution", she kept telling herself.

When she arrived the little room, the whimpering stopped. Little Harry looked up at her with big, watery green eyes, begging her to make the nightmares go away. She picked him up and hugged him tightly. Harry grasped the fabric of her T-shirt tightly, unwilling to let her go ever again.

Slowly he was getting calmer. Sighing content he snuggled closer. Petunia smiled, she could already feel her heart melt, all the bad experiences with her sister became less important the longer she held them.

Suddenly she heard crying from Dudley's room. Her little precious had finished "reading" and was now bored and wondering where his mummy had gone.

She had to go back to her baby, but she just couldn't leave her little nephew all alone so soon again.

There wasn't only one solution, for there was another one. Her little nephew held securely in her arms she made her way back towards her son.

After all they would meet one day and maybe Harry could be a normal child, if under Dudley's good influence, maybe he would never leave them.

When she entered Dudley's room, a strange child on her arms, her little son stared up at her with wide, confused eyes. She picked him up too and carried both boys downstairs back in the living room. As soon as she sat them down Dudley started talkig animatedly and soon Harry joined in. While the kids where busy playing with Dudley's toys, they would have to get Harry some too, Petunia did the housework, all the while keeping a watchful eye on them.

By the time Vernon got home from work all three of them were sleeping snuggled together in a heap on the couch.

Even though he still had his doubts regarding his nephew, he couldn't help but smile at the sight. Silently he took a photo.

**Hi guys, thank for reading, and following this story, also thanks for the favourites! You are incredible.**

**I hope you like this chapter. I am full of ideas for all my stories and also for some new stories, but I just don't have time to write with school and all, that's just so very frustrating...**

**However school comes first, so the next chapter may take me a while. In the meantime please review! It means very much to me.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own the rights for Harry Potter and there is no chance that I will get them as a Christmas present.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows, you guys make my day. **

Their first Christmas with Harry, which also was Dudley's first real Christmas, as the last time he had just been a little baby, was nearing and the Dursleys were going to spend alone with just the four of them. For one Petunia didn't really like Vernon's sister Marge, as she was a big, impolite person, who would always just criticize Petunia's food or tell her that she was way to thin and almost looked like a horse. Also she always brought one of her dogs, little, misbehaved mutts.

The second reason was, that even if Dudley and Harry were getting along just wonderfully and Harry most of the time would be a sweet little boy, there were some odd things about him.

For example once Harry had gotten hold of Petunias broom and had seemingly tried to ride on it. Another time little Harry had suddenly begun to wave around the pencil, he had been drawing with, in strange patterns.

When Dudley tried to imitate Harry Vernon had looked ready to throw his little nephew out there and then, only the fact that Dudley and Petunia were fond of the boy and the boy hadn't done any real magic yet, and maybe because he liked him a tiny little bit himself, hindered him.

They had scolded little Harry for it and it hadn't happened since, but they weren't going to take any chances, not with it being Dudley's first real Christmas.

That day had to be perfect, they were going to spoil their little boy rotten with presents, which they had gotten a long time ago.

Petunia however had decided that they needed to give Harry some presents too, so now here they were striding through crowded stores, looking for more presents.

But at much as Vernon wanted to maintain his grumpy mood, he couldn't help but smile thinking of the two pairs of joy sparkling eyes, after all it was Harry's first real Christmas too.

After only two hours they had everything they needed. To Vernon it was a miracle what took them so long, it wasn't as if boys of Harry's age were picky, in his opinion anything, definitely non magical would have done just fine...

MERRY****CHRISTMAS********MERRY****CHRISTMAS

When they finally got home they prepared everything for the following morning, Christmas morning. While Petunia wrapped up the presents, Vernon decorated the tree, at least he tried, but was interrupted by his wife, who didn't like the way he did it. So only 15 minutes after, Vernon found himself wrapping the remaining presents, while his wife undecorated the tree and then started to put the Christmas balls back on.

After they had finished all their decorations they went to retrieve the children from their neighbour Mrs. Figg.

Back at their house the two little boys stared at the huge, beautifully decorated tree in amazement. They kept pointing at different parts of the decoration, at the Christmas balls, the bell, the candy canes...

"Look, look", they shouted from time to time, pointing out with their little fingers, with eyes wide in wonder.

That was why the Dursley's decided to have dinner in the living room under the tree that day.

Right after dinner Vernon helped the kids to hang up the stockings. Then they tugged them in in Dudley's bed and Vernon told them the story of Father Christmas, who would come that night and fill their stockings with presents. At that the little boys practically jumped with excitement.

That he would fly in a sleigh, pulled by reindeer's and land on their roof.

"Can see?", Dudley asked.

"No, you can't see him, little one, you have to sleep or else he won't come!"

And that he would enter the house through their fire place. A strange man breaking in their house at night... That idea certainly did not appeal to the boys, for after being told that none of them was willing to sleep in his room alone that night, they both slept in Dudley's bed that night.

MERRY****CHRISTMAS********MERRY****CHRISTMAS

The next morning the Dursley's were woken up early, very early by two hyper children. Petunia went to pick them both up, while Vernon retrieved the camera. Then they went downstairs, to show the boys the gifts they got.

Seeing the well filled stockings and the large pile of gifts beneath them, Dudley began to squirm in her arms until she let him go, then the toddler half ran, half crawled towards his gifts.

Harry followed suit.

Soon all the gifts were unwrapped and lying in one corner, forgotten, while Harry and Dudley were busy playing with the wrapping paper. They sat on the ground, throwing it at each other and shredding it in tiny pieces, all the while giggling madly.

After breakfast their parents cleaned up the mess and the rest of the day was spend finally playing with the new toys, the stuffed animals and little cars, the children got.

The turkey was great and later that night, the lying in bed, each a little boy in their arms, the Dursley's knew it had been worth it, the whole work and money they had spend on this first real Christmas a a family.

**I hope you liked this little chapter. Please let me know what you though and tell me if there are any bad mistakes. Constructive criticism is very welcome.**

**And with that said, I wish you all a very merry Christmas!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own HP, no profit is being made by this. **

**Thanks for the nice reviews, they make my day! Glad you like it.**

"**Warning": I don't really know anything about the English kindergarten system, all that I know, I learned from the internet, so please tell me if I got anything wrong.**

The years just seemed to fly, birthdays, Christmas came and went. Harry still lived with the Dursleys and even Vernon had grown quite attached to the boy. Dudley and Harry however, as different as they were, had become closer than brothers. Wherever one went the other would follow. The two boys would spend hours crawling through the whole house and when they got older chasing after each other, until they were exhausted, after that they would settle down, panting, to work on one of their puzzles or try to steel the cookies from the table. They got quite creative, too.

All in all they were quite a handful. But Vernon and Petunia couldn't have been more proud of them, both of them. They could be annoying and difficult, especially since they learned to speak properly and now kept pestering the adults, but they were two absolutely lovely boys.

Still, even if they loved Harry as well he remained just their nephew. Right now he thought it to be normal to live with his aunt and uncle, for he was to young to know better, but Petunia knew that one day he would ask for his parents and oh how she feared that day.

Soon enough Dudley's third birthday came and went. They had a little party, just the four of them. They went to the zoo. Now that he was three it was time for the older boy to go to the kindergarten. At first the Dursleys had planned to keep Harry at home for another year, for he was really small and scrawny for his age, and yes, maybe Petunia was still trying to separate the boys as much as possible, fearing what would happen when Harry would get his letter, but the tantrum both of the boys threw after hearing of those plans, quickly convinced her to change those plans.

A few weeks later the time had come, it was Dudley's AND Harry's first day at the kindergarten. Both boys woke up early, pretty excited for they didn't know what to expect.

At six a clock the Dursleys were awoken pretty rude, by two little "monsters" jumping on their bed.

Sighing they gave in and got up. After a small breakfast the two boys went to play a bit and half past seven they finally got to go.

Petunia set them down at the kindergarten and then left them.

The little boys looked around in wonder, they had never seen so many other kids in one room before. In one corner a little boy and a little girl sat, drawing pictures, a few girls were playing with a doll's house, most of the boys sat in the other corner, playing with cars and marbles.

The caretaker called them all together, introducing the little boys.

"This is Dudley and this is his cousin Harry", she told them.

They were greeted by a chorus of "Hello"'s and the other kids trying to introduce themselves, by shouting their names, drowning out each other.

"I'm Arthur!"

"I'm Molly!"

"I'm Tim!"

After a while the racket died down and the caretaker left them to their games. Dudley and Harry joined two other boys at the marbles.

"I'm Tony and this is Piers", one of the boys introduced. "One day I want to be a detective like my dad."

"My dad is a banker, but I don't want to be one, I want to be a fireman! What about you?", Piers asked them.

"I'm Dudley and this is Harry, my dad is a director of his own company. But I would like being a detective better", Dudley answered.

"Cool!", Tony cheered.

"What about you, Harry?", Piers asked.

"I don't really know anything about my parents, I live with my aunt and uncle. But I want to be a superhero one day", the boy answered shyly.

"Are you stupid? Superheroes don't exist!", Piers sneered.

"Do!"

"Don't!"

"Do!"

"You are really stupid, is that why your parents didn't want you? No one who is normal lives with his aunt and uncle!", Piers taunted further.

At that Harry was at the verge of tears and Dudley stepped in.

"Stop it!", he commanded. "Or I'm gonna eat your marbles!"

That shut Piers up effectively. Sulking he went away and left the three boys on themselves. Soon they were joined by John, who wanted to be a doctor! and the rest of the morning went by with peaceful playing. The boys got along well enough and soon they all had forgotten about the incident, all except Harry.

He just couldn't get it out of his head. He lived with his aunt and uncle, did that really mean, that he wasn't normal?

As soon as Petunia came to get her boys Harry flung himself in her arms, crying freely.

"Auntie, why do I live with you, didn't my parents want me? Am I not normal?", he cried.

Petunia looked at the little boy in her arms, the green eyes, so much like his mothers, filled with tears. What should she tell him? It scared her, how much truth was in what he said, for indeed this little boy was anything but normal!

What should she tell him?

**Cliffie, right? :)))) **

**Well, sorry about that, buuuuut this just had to become a two parter ;) it fit to well.**

**Tell me what you think. Did you like it? Constructive criticism is more than welcome!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 (or Chapter 6b):**

**Disclaimer: I would tell you that I don't own HP, but I already told you that...**

**Thanks for all reviews (special greetings to jsaba), I really appreciate any feedback! That being said, enjoy the new chapter!**

Petunia sighed. "Harry, who gave you this idea?"

"Piers, a mean boy from the kindergarten", the little boy snivelled.

"Harry, listen to me. You are a wonderful little boy and your parents loved you very much!"

"But why did they leave me?"

"Harry, your parents didn't want to leave you!", Petunia stated, even though she hadn't seen her sister much before Harry and Dudley were born and after that had avoided her at all costs, she was sure of that.

If only she had known... She had always waited for her sister to make the first step, as she had always done, but her little sister had eventually given up on her after she had a family of her own and Petunia hadn't come to her marriage or to see her little nephew. Lily had written her a letter, had told her that she was tired of trying to contact her, tired of being rejected, but that she loved her very much and that Tuni could visit them every time, should she want to one day. Lily had told her she missed her and truth to be told Petunia had missed her too. That day she had almost packed her things and visited her little sister. She had almost been out of her door when she remembered the reason why she had avoided her sister for so long and jealousy and the hate for being non magical, while her young sister was oh so gifted, their parents little darling, stung her like thorns. That day she stayed away, as she did every day after that. And now her chance was gone.

Little hands tugging at her hair pulled her out of her self-loathing. Emerald eyes met hers, waiting for an explanation, that was needed so much.

"Harry, darling, they didn't want to leave you, they had to leave because they had to go to heaven", Petunia stated, hoping he would understand.

"Oh", the little boy was silent for a moment. "When will they come back?"

"I'm sorry, my baby, but they died, that means they can never come back."

Those incredible green eyes filled with tears, trying to comprehend that he would never meet the parents he just found out he should have. Those parents who aunty said loved him, but still left him behind. He had always felt that those people, who loved you would never leave you, had never questioned this view of the world, but now he couldn't be sure any more. If his parents had to leave him, what if his aunt and uncle or Dudley would have to leave him, he would be alone.

And being alone was the scariest thing for a shy little three year old!

Petunia watched the little boy fighting tears. There was a tug on her trousers, Dudley was demanding to be taken up, a determined expression on his small face. Carefully she picked the other three year old up too, then she went over to sit down on the sofa.

Immediately Dudley started hugging the smaller boy.

Petunia watched them a while, remembering how she had done the same thing for her little sister after a nightmare. Lily would slip into bed with her and Petunia would hug her and tell her stories until she fell back to sleep.

Silent tears streamed down Petunia's cheeks as she remembered and before she knew it, she started talking.

"You know Harry, your eyes are just like your mothers."

That had the little boy listening.

"You are a lot like her, that's how she will always be with you, she is inside you."

At first the words came slowly, painfully. It hurt to talk about all the things she lost, but after a while Petunia began to loosen up.

She told the kids how would sneak out one night to camp in the garden, but soon enough had to get back inside, because it was still in the midst of winter. She told them how she used to carry her sister with her everywhere when Lily was only two, she would take her to the garden and show her everything, from a little ladybug in the grass to a big bird on the fence. She told them that, even though other kids would occasionally mock them, it had never bothered them, because they still had each other. She remembered how one day her little sister would hide in her room and pretend to be a ghost, rattling doors and all. Petunia had been pretty scared until she found her laughing sister in the wardrobe. The incident had ended in an epic pillow fight.

Soon the little boys fell asleep, smiling, it had been an eventful day.

Petunia found that she too was smiling. For the first time she had allowed herself to grief for her sister. To remember not what had parted, but what had bound them together all those years.

Shortly after Petunia too fell asleep, dreaming of her sister.

**Okay guys, I hope you liked it, if you did, please leave a review, if you didn't leave a review anyway :)**

**I am sorry it is so short... I just can't help it, but I will try to work on it in the holidays...**

**The next chapter will be a little father-sons bonding moment, Kendra Dhyanna asked me for :)**

**By the way any suggestions for chapters are welcome, otherwise I will just think of something.**

**I won't update before Monday the 30th, have a nice week.**

**FM**

**P.S. I am not so sure about the grammar in this chapter, anything I missed?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

**Disclaimer: HP belongs to JK Rowling**

**Hi guys, sorry it took me so long...**

**Enjoy!**

Harry asking about his parents had reminded Petunia painfully of her nephews certain gifts, that he had -thank god- yet to display. For the following weeks she watched out for any signs of strange happenings around little Harry and tried to keep him from Vernon should anything happen. But of course she couldn't keep them apart for long. Harry soon began to miss his father figure and Petunia could tell that Vernon too missed spending time with Harry.

So, when Petunia was invited by a friend to go shopping, Vernon was more than ready to take the boys. A bit nervous Petunia agreed, after all nothing had happened yet and it was only for a day.

On the next morning Petunia left her boys peacefully solving puzzles on the floor of their living room, Vernon helping eagerly.

Petunia smiled at the familiar sight.

Not long after his wife left, Vernon and the children had finished all the puzzles momentarily available.

"Soooo, what do you boys want to do now?", Vernon asked them.

Dudley and Harry looked at each other. "Playground, playground!", they shouted.

"The playground it is then", Vernon agreed and shortly after he had dressed the little boys appropriately. Vernon took their hands and they left for the next playground.

It wasn't a long walk. Soon they arrived at their destination.

As soon as Harry and Dudley saw the swings there was no stopping them. Laughing Vernon watched them racing each other towards the play equipment. Patiently he sat down on a bench and watched the boys -his boys- play.

At first they played on the swings, later they played catch with a few of the other children and used the slide.

Vernon let Harry and Dudley play for an hour, but soon it became obvious that the boys were getting tired. When he saw Harry trip for the third time, he summoned them. Grudgingly they came, but soon cheered up, as Vernon promised to take them out for ice cream.

On the way Dudley and Harry were already talking loudly which flavour they were going to take. Dudley wanted Chocolate, while Harry preferred Vanilla.

In the ice café they sat down, enjoying the sweet taste and coolness of their goodies, Dudley snuggling up to his father from the left, Harry, after a short hesitation, from the right. At that moment everything was perfect for Vernon Dursley and he decided that he didn't wanted their trip to end just yet.

So after they finished their ice they went to the next play store. Vernon knew he was spoiling his kids, but he just couldn't help it, it had been too long since he had had enough time for his son. Another thing Vernon couldn't help was that Harry Potter, despite being the song of the persons that had hurt his wife so much, was slowly working himself right into his heart. The boy was just so sweet and innocent. When he saw how his little Dudders and the Potter boy -who had long since become Harry to him- interacted it was easy for him to forget about the boys parents and what was to come. Also he had yet to show any abnormal abilities.

At the play store both children got eyes as big as sausages, completely absorbed in inspecting all those toys.

Soon Dudley found the car section and began to marvel at each of the different types, eagerly showing his father the slot car racing tracks, basically begging him to buy one, but Vernon remained stern.

"You both can choose one toy, but maybe, if you are nice you will get the racing tracks for Christmas."

Dudley pouted, but accepted his fathers regulation. Soon he got engrossed in the next regal.

Harry at the time was looking at the section with the super heroes, not quite as vocal as Dudley about it.

After about an hour the small family had seen everything in the store and Vernon found that it was time to go home now. He urged both the boys to choose one part.

Dudley finally decided on a remote controlled car, while Harry chose one of those action figures.

Vernon was about to take them to the checkout, when he realised just what his nephew was holding in his small hands...

… a wizard! With his beard, wand and hat, he looked entirely too much like the headmaster of "their" school. Petunia had described the man to him once.

"NO!", he almost shouted at the poor boy, his eyes hard.

The two young boys looked at him, Harry utterly confused and at the verge of tears, Dudley curious.

With an effort Vernon managed to calm down.

"No", he said again in a calmer voice. "Harry, pick something else."

Quietly they brought the wizard back to where it was from. On the way back towards the checkout Harry fell in love with a big teddy bear and the incident immediately seemed forgotten once Vernon promised to buy the thing for Harry.

On their way back home Harry was being his usual self, joking around with Dudley, jumping over puddles. As they got home however, instead of playing with Dudley, who wanted Harry's teddy to be the pilot of his car, the boy followed Vernon around, all the while clinging to his bear.

As it was obvious that the boy wanted to talk to him Vernon went to the kitchen and sat down, Harry safely in his lap.

"What is it, Harry?", he asked gently, hoping that he wouldn't have to explain the scene from the toy store to the little boy.

"Why don't you like me?", the little raven boy asked, looking so heartbroken it made his uncles heart ache.

"Harry, don't you think that, I like you! I like you very much. You are just as much my boy as Dudley", he replied. Maybe he was bending the truth a bit saying that, but he couldn't stand the lost look in the emerald eyes and maybe, if he looked deep into his heart, it was the truth.

"Then why did Dudley get what he chose, but I didn't?"

Darn, that was it - the question Vernon had dreaded.

"You got the teddy, didn't you? Don't you like it?", his uncle tried to distract Harry – to no avail.

"I do like it", the little boy confessed, hugging the teddy more tightly. "But I orig … originally chose the wizard!"

What should he tell the boy? Vernon Dursley and his wife had sworn not to tell Harry about magic and their hate for it. They had tried to keep anything magical from the boy, afraid that it might trigger something. It seemed like there was only one way: Telling the boy a half truth and hoping that he would accept it.

As if sharing a secret he leaned nearer to the little boy in his arms.

"I don't like wizards, but don't tell anyone!", he whispered.

Harry was quiet for a while, thinking the answer over.

"I'm sorry, I don't like clowns. They are creepy, you know?", the small boy whispered back.

Vernon couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face at the sweet naivete of his nephew. Just like that Harry forgot all about the incident and went to play with Dudley. His uncle chuckled silently to himself as he watched the kids play, if only they could stay this young...

He wished it would be always this easy to keep the truth hidden, but deep inside Vernon knew that the older Harry got the harder it would get to hide his dislike- no, his hate- for anything magic.

Vernon found that he had long lost his heart to the sweet, caring, smart boy he called his nephew, but he knew that the magic of the boy would always float over his domestic happiness like the sword of Damocles. One day the day would come that Harry found out about his magic. That day would change everything.

**Yay, I did it! This chapter is longer than the other! (Okay, not much, but it is an improvement and I am very busy lately...) I hope you liked it.**

**Please let me know what you think about it, reviews always cheer me up and right now I can use some cheering up, because I am learning for my super important final year exams, otherwise known as the Abitur :(**

**So don't expect me to update soon. Still I will do my best not to let you wait too long.**

**Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter and for the incredible amount of followers and favourites 3**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP and make no profit from this.**

**Sorry for the long wait...**

Not long after, Harry's fourth birthday was nearing, it happened. The thing that Vernon and Petunia feared alike. Harry used magic for the first time! The times of pretending were over. Harry was just like his parents: a wizard!

The day started like any other day before. Petunia woke first and made breakfast for her boys. Vernon was second and got the mail. While he would read the newspaper and prepare for work, Petunia would wake the kids and get them dressed.

Down in the kitchen Vernon all the while would prepare them sack lunch for the kindergarten.

After Vernon left the house for work, the children ate their breakfast. After that Petunia took them to the kindergarten.

Dudley and Harry had fun and enjoyed to play with their friends. At the same time Petunia cleaned the house, chatted with their neighbour and watched TV. Later she went to pick Harry and Dudley up and they enjoyed their afternoon.

A perfectly normal day.

The problems didn't start before Vernon came home. Like always Dudley and Harry came running to greet their father and uncle. While they scrambled, each wanting to be the first to greet Vernon, Harry tripped and fell right into Petunias favourite vase. They heard a clanging and then the expensive vase burst into pieces.

Petunia gasped: "Harry!"

Dudley and Harry stopped dead in their tracks, terrified of what they had done. Then Harry began to cry and Dudley joined him, because he didn't know what else to do.

Both Vernon and Petunia hurried towards the boys, checking them both for injuries, relieved when they didn't find any. When Petunia turned towards the vase and her facial expression turned sad.

The vase hadn't only been expensive, but also of a great emotional worth. It was the vase Vernon had hidden the ring in, when he asked Petunia to marry him.

Vernon too was sad the vase was broken.

They didn't really blame their boys. The sweet children had apologised many times and tiptoed around the house, every pore emitting a guilty conscience. They even tried to draw the vase.

No, there were no hard feeling against their boys, but losing the vase still hurt.

Reluctantly Petunia had swept up the pieces and, not ready to throw them away yet, had put them in a little box.

They tried to make the rest of the day as normal as possible for the boys. They played with them, gave them their dinner as always and tugged them in early. But still there was a certain sadness to it all. Maybe it was foolish to mourn for a mere vase like that, but Petunia couldn't help to think about all the memories attached to the piece of furniture.

Not only had Vernon given her the ring, she was still wearing on her finger, in it, all the times Vernon got her flowers they went into that very vase.

The day they married and Vernon had carried her about the door sill there had been red roses in it. The day Petunia got home from the hospital after giving birth to Dudley it had been filled with beautiful yellow sunflowers and finally the day Lilly died and Petunia had been devastated, Vernon had brought home Lilies.

And that were only some of the memories attached to the vase.

Maybe mourning wasn't so foolish after all.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Upstairs in his bed little Harry couldn't sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes he saw the heartbroken look of his aunt, when she realised the vase was beyond repair.

After an hour he decided to get up. He would try to repair the vase. Determined he grabbed his craft glue from his little table and tapped downstairs, carefully, not to make a sound. His aunt and uncle were still up, watching TV in the living room.

Harry reached the kitchen undetected and got the little box out of the cupboard. He sat down on the cold ground and began to take out piece after piece. He put them back into order, like a puzzle. As if by magic he didn't hurt himself on the sharp edges.

Whenever he found two pieces that fit they seemed to attract themselves and combined into a bigger piece.

Thankfully most of the broken pieces were pretty big, which mad Harry's job a lot easier. Still he was at it for almost an hour before he fit all the big pieces and had only the small ones left.

The vase was nearly whole by now, but there were some little holes left. Out of instinct Harry closed his eyes and imagined the vase like it had looked like before it broke. When he opened them again the vase was whole.

With a happy smile on his small face Harry fell asleep on the kitchen floor.

About half an hour later Vernon and Petunia entered the kitchen only to find their nephew on the floor, hugging the now whole vase. They looked at each other, shock evident in their features. Looking with something like fear and even disgust at the boy on their floor.

At that moment Harry shivered slightly and Petunia remembered the first time she held Harry. He was still their sweet little boy. Gently she picked him up and tugged him back in upstairs.

Back in the kitchen Vernon and her conferred what to do with the vase and the little boy, peacefully sleeping upstairs.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Miles away, somewhere in the hills of Scotland, the name "Harry Potter" had appeared on a list for future students.

**Hope you liked it, please let me know what you thought.**

**If you have any ideas for future chapters, things you would like to read, just let me know :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

**Sorry it took me so long.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

The light in the kitchen of the Dursley's burned a long time that night.

They had sworn themselves, that they would 'get rid' of their nephew as soon as he showed the slightest sign of being magical. But now as their fears came true, they found they could not.

The boy had grown to them, they came to love him. Even Vernon was quite fond of the boy. Not to mention what Dudley would do, if they robbed him of his little brother!

Also Petunia had to admit she was quite touched, that Harry's first outburst of magic was to make her happy again, even if she would never say so aloud.

Petunia sighed tiredly, as she rubbed her eyes. It was really late and they still didn't know what to do.

"Isn't there something we can do, to suppress his 'abilities'?", Vernon asked her for the umties time that night.

"Not that I know", she replied, as she had done so many times already.

Vernon sighed: "It's late and there isn't much we can do now anyway. Let's just wait, maybe if we don't encourage it, it will go away!"

Petunia was pretty sure that wouldn't happen. She knew Lilly had loved her very much and would have done almost everything for her. Yet she didn't lose her magic, nor did Petunia get magic, so they could stay sisters. One thing was priority for her now: Don't let Dudley suffer, like she had.

It was best if Dudley wouldn't learn about Harry's gift. So she hid the vase.

When Harry asked, she told him she had put it somewhere safe. The little boy's face got red in embarrassment and he didn't ask again. Not with one word did Petunia imply that it was uncommon for little boys to hex broken vases whole, nor did she thank him for it.

For two years Dudley remained blissfully unaware that Harry was a wizard. Till now his parents had been able to hide his 'brothers' magical outbursts from him, but they were getting more frequent. They also seemed to get more powerful. In the last two years repairing the vase had been by far the most powerful things Harry did. His other outbursts had been a lot less suspicious and easy to cover for. The shirts their overly nice, old neighbour would bring over, when her grandchildren outgrew them (two girls!), just didn't fit Harry, even if Dudley had no problems wearing them, much to his anger. And if he was afraid at night the light in Harry's room would turn itself on.

So till their first day of school neither Harry or Dudley realized that Harry was different.

The boys had been very excited, to go to school. Weeks before they had asked their parents again and again about all the things they would learn.

There was only one problem about the school. With time Harry and Dudley had gotten quite good friends with John and Toni. But the only boy they knew at school would be no other than Piers. They just didn't get along, he would always take away their play things and try to get other kids to join.

Still, most of the time it didn't concern them to much, as they knew they always had each other and Piers seemed to be jealous of that.

But the first day of school started merrily enough and both boys soon forgot about that unfortunate detail.

That morning the little boys woke up extremely early. It was only five in the morning, when Harry's small feet tapped down the floor to Dudley's room.

"Dudley?", he whispered. "Are you awake?"

"Yes", the other boy whispered back. "Come in."

Silently Harry opened the door whole, to get in. Once he had entered he joined Dudley on his bed. There the little boys would sit, telling each other jokes and inventing stories, careful not to get too loud. Else Vernon would come and sent them back to bed.

Shortly before it was time for them to get up, Harry slipped back into his own bed. When Petunia came to wake him, she didn't learn about his little evening stroll.

Petunia quickly got the little boys dressed and after breakfast and each saying their goodbye to Vernon they were off to school.

Mrs. Dursley brought her boys to their classroom. There she left them to their tutor, a nice Lady in her thirties, who they already knew.

There weren't many other kids just yet. There were only a boy and a girl animatedly talking in the last row, so Dudley and Harry got to chose their tables. They sat down in the middle row. That way they would be able to hear everything, but won't be seen as 'uncool'.

One after another the other kids trailed in. Most of them were to nervous about meeting their classmates to chat much, so it was unusual silent. A shy looking boy entered and asked if he could sit next to Harry. Harry agreed, they smiled to each other and fell back in silence. The tutor Mrs. Turner waited till all the kids got settled, before she began their first lesson.

The lesson was great. Mrs. Turner made them play games, so they got to know each other and then she began to read them a story. She told them that they would be able to read themselves soon, if they were eager to learn.

Their first classes went by quickly and soon it was time for the break. For many pupil the best time in school.

Dudley and Harry spent the break with the shy boy, who they learned was named Tim. They were contently building racing tracks for the cars Dudley brought with him, in the big sandbox. It wasn't long however until Piers got bored playing with his new friends, none of them had brought any toys. So when he saw the three boys playing with the cars, he decided that he wanted them. So he went over with his friends to take them. He didn't even really realised it was unfair and mean, because it was just how things worked in his world.

When Harry and Dudley spotted the four boys heading over to them, they quickly gathered their cars and stood. Tim also got up.

On their way towards them Piers and his friends destroyed the racing tracks.

"Stop that!", Dudley said in a loud voice.

"Why should we?", was the reply.

"You are being mean", Tim spoke up from behind his new friends in a little voice.

The bully's only laughed and got nearer.

"Leave us alone or you gonna regret it!", Harry told them.

"Yeah? What you gonna do?", Piers laughed.

When the boys were going to pick up one of Dudley's cars, they had forgotten in their haste, it happened. Suddenly there was wind. All of the bully's got sand in their eyes. Even though he couldn't really see, the furious Piers still tried to reach the three friends, only to be knocked over by the wind.

The teacher, who had by now seen something was wrong with them came to the sand box. She only saw the boy lying on the ground crying and the other four boys desperately trying to rub sand out of their eyes and she wouldn't listen to Dudley's view of things. Tim didn't dare speak and Harry was shocked into silence.

"Who did this?", the teacher demanded to know.

"Me", Harry said in a little voice.

The rest of their day at school seemed rather short.

Harry was anxious to go home, after all he got a letter on his first day at school, his aunt and uncle wouldn't be pleased, even if it hadn't really been his fault.

Dudley had much to think about. He was still young and inexperienced with the world, but he knew that 6 year old shouldn't be able to control the wind. Else he should also be able to do it, shouldn't he? He had tried the rest of the school day, but hadn't managed to even produce a light breeze. So he knew there was something different with Harry.

He didn't think different of his brother for it, after all in his view it was pretty cool that Harry could do such things and it could come in handy later. Dudley already saw how they could use it in their pranks or maybe also to defend themselves.

He only wanted to know why Harry could do such things. Did his parents know?

So, when the boys got back home it wasn't Harry who spoke first, even though he wanted to put the whole letter thing behind himself. It was Dudley.

"Mum, why can Harry control the wind?", the little boy asked innocently.

Petunia let out a little shriek. For a moment she looked like she was about to faint, but she couldn't, with the boys looking at her expectantly and a bit worried. Instead she just turned ghostly pale.

"How about, I make you both a hot chocolate and then we sit down and talk?", she said instead, her voice only shaking a little.

**I hope you like it, so Dudley is catching on, what will Petunia tell them?**

**I'll try to update next week.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

**I am really sorry it took me so long, I could give you a bunch of excuses, but I bet you are not interested. I hope you had a merry Christmas (if you celebrated) and I wish you a happy new year, what would I do without you lot!**

**Enjoy!**

A few moments later Petunia and her boys were sitting on the sofa, each of them with a big hot chocolate.

Petunia hadn't quite figured out, what and how much to tell the boys. But before she told them, she had to know something.

"Harry, did someone else see you do it?"

The little boy looked at her with big frightened eyes. "I don't think so."

"Good", Petunia sighed. For a moment there was silence, while she searched for the right words. Both boys looked at her in apprehension.

"Harry, you know I don't like to talk about your mother?" She didn't wait for him to answer: "Well, it is time you learn the reason. When we were young, the two of us were inseparable. We did almost everything together, much like you, even though I was a year older than Lily. When I learned to read, I always read her a good night story. When she went to school too, we always helped each other with the homework. Your mother was a bright child. She always had the best ideas, even if her mischievous streak sometimes got us into trouble. I only wish it could have always stayed like this: the two of us together, as close as sisters can be."

"What happened?", Dudley asked, Harry watching on, absorbing any information about his mother.

Petunia sighed again, then she went on with her story. "Your mother has always been a bit different. Strange things happened around her. She would let flowers appear out of nowhere, wild birds would sit on her hand, if she called them and the likes. Little things, easy to ignore for me. Then one day she met a little boy like her, who told her she was a witch and that she had magic."

Here Dudley couldn't help but interrupt. "Does that mean Harry has magic, too. So he's a real wizard?"

Petunia nodded gravely.

"Cool!", the little boy exclaimed, his eyes shining. But Harry, who had heard the seriousness and the sadness in his aunts voice wasn't so sure about it.

"What happened to you and mum?", he asked timidly.

For a moment Petunia hesitated, then she finished her story quickly, hiding the tears in her eyes.

"Shortly after she got a letter, that she was accepted at a boarding school for magic. She went away for the whole school year and we only saw each other in the holidays. Never again were we as close as we used to be. And when she married your father and moved out, we lost all contact to each other."

"But that's horrible!", Harry exclaimed.

"Don't worry, it won't happen to us!", Dudley tried to sooth him.

"But if I am a wizard, I will have to go to that boarding school, too!", the little boy exclaimed.

Petunia nodded: "They will invite you, yes."

"If it means leaving you, I don't want to go to that magic school!", Harry cried.

"Just stop using magic and you won't have to", Petunia told him. "Now get upstairs and play, I have work to do."

As soon as the boys left, she collapsed on the sofa, her eyes watering. There where just too many conflicting emotions inside her head. Deep inside she knew her story had been pretty one-sided. She knew that her jealousy had driven them more apart than their different schools. She just wasn't ready to face that truth just yet.

Also she felt guilty for making Harry afraid of who and what he was, but at the same time she was glad that she convinced him, to give up magic. She didn't want Dudley to stay behind, like she did. If Harry stopped using magic, his letter may never come. In the end it was all for the good of her boys. With that thought she got up, after all, she really had work to do.

Petunia Dursley was not a bad person, she had come a long way to accept Harry as her second son. But she wasn't ready to accept his magic yet. So it wasn't surprising that she didn't want him to use magic ever again, besides, what would the neighbours say!

If only she had known, that upstairs, her own son did his best to convince Harry, that he would be fine to use magic, as long as nobody caught him.

Petunia Dursley didn't know the trouble she was in for.

**Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

**Yay, the next chapter already. Almost every day I got a message someone new was following this story, it really motivated me. Thanks for all those reviews too.**

**Disclaimer: I don't Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Dudley Dursley or any of the other characters invented by JK Rowling.**

„Come on, Harry!", Dudley begged. „Just think what we could do!"

Harry was still reluctant to give in.

"It will be fun! Besides, that idiot deserves it", Dudley tried again.

By now Harry was thinking hard. Of course he wanted to get back at Piers. The boy had destroyed Harry's picture for their arts class yesterday, which in turn made the teacher angry at Harry. Their strict arts teacher had thought Harry had just been too lazy to do his homework. It seemed to always be like this since the incident in the sand box. Harry and Dudley now had a reputation as troublemakers. Piers was careful not to get caught. At least Dudley's parents believed them rather than their teachers. Still that boy was a plague. The thing with Harry's picture had proved that again. And of course it strengthened Dudley's arguments.

The 6 year old had been trying to convince Harry to play Piers a magical prank ever since he learned about his brothers magic a week ago.

As it looked like Piers wouldn't get in trouble for his doings any time soon, Harry finally relented.

"Okay, what do you have in mind?", he asked the older boy.

Dudley whooped, before he replied: "Dunno, something magical I suppose."

Harry sighed. Together the boys began to think of ways how to use Harry's gift to their advantage, without getting in trouble and without anyone noticing Harry was a wizard.

It took some time, but finally Harry's eyes began to glitter. Maybe this prank business wasn't so bad.

The next morning Harry and Dudley looked forward for school again.

They were a bit nervous, but couldn't wait to set their plan in motion.

That morning Harry and Dudley were the first in their classroom. All was going according to plan. Dudley quickly covered Piers chair in glue, grinning maliciously. After that they slipped back out of class, waiting for school to begin outside on the playground. When Tim wanted to go in, they stopped him, telling him he might not want to go in yet, as not to make himself suspicious. The next 5 minutes Tim tried to get them to tell him, what they had done. The two boys however remained tight lipped.

When they saw their teacher on her way to their class room they hurried after her. They slipped into the classroom barely before their teacher. Trying to suppress their grins, as they saw Piers already sitting on his chair. He hadn't noticed the glue yet. Of course not, after all it was already dried.

They stood along their class mates to greet their teacher.

After that hey waited for a few minutes in the lesson, then Dudley nodded to Harry. It was time to make Piers day 'special'.

The black haired boy concentrated hard. He imagined the glue becoming fluid and drying again.

When Piers tried to shift in his seat, to his horror he could not. He tried to stand up, the chair stayed stubbornly glued to his jeans. Dudley and Harry suppressed their giggles.

"Mrs. Turner, Mrs. Turner! I can't get rid of the chair!", the boy called out. Interrupted mid speech the teacher looked at him in doubt.

"Piers, that is extremely funny, but I would like to continue our lesson now."

"No, really! I can't move!", Piers cried.

"Yes of course.", by now their teacher was clearly not amused. "You could stand just fine for the greeting, I am sure you will find that you can do so now too."

"No, really!", Piers insisted. "Look!"

Harry concentrated again and when Piers tried to stand up to prove his point, he found he could without problems.

The teacher shot the boy another angry look. "Now that that's settled I would like to continue with the lesson."

Dudley and Harry had real difficulties to keep quiet by now. Tim wore a little smile on his face.

That day was certainly a day to remember for Piers. Strange things kept happening to him.

When he tried to grab one of the other kids cars from the ground, his jeans ripped, his shoelaces kept opening and he tripped over small stones.

By the end of the day Piers was convinced he was haunted.

That night when he lay in his bed, Harry was happy, but exhausted. It had been a fun day, Dudley and him had come up with small pranks the whole time. Pranks, that were easy to disguise as bad luck. No one had suspected them, no one new knew about Harry's gift.

As he lay in bed his thoughts drifted to his parents. Would they approve of their actions? Certainly Piers had deserved it!

He knew from Petunia his mother had liked to play pranks too, when she was his age. What about his dad?

He only hoped they were proud of him.

**Please review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Meaning anything you recognize from the books isn't mine. **

**To Irianna Marie: I am not planning to make Dudley magical in this story, in my opinion it wouldn't fit in. But I like the idea and I may write another story with a magical Dudley once I finished my other stories. I hope you continue to enjoy this story.**

**Thanks again for all the attention this story receives, I treasure every review, follow and favourite. Here you go.**

Harry fell asleep with a smile on his face, the prank they played on Piers still fresh in his mind. His sleep however was disturbed by nightmares.

_Harry was back in the toy store, where he had spent many happy hours with Dudley and Uncle Vernon. In fact he still did. He looked around in wonder. A wonder any child would feel surrounded by toys._

_Harry moved through the rows, toys piling up on either side. Suddenly the path narrowed. Harry had no choice but to continue forward. Quickly reached the end of the row. A big wall blocked his path and in front of the wall was only one thing – the wizard Harry wanted to have, when he was only three years old._

The scenery changed, as Harry's memories entered the dream. Again his Uncle was towering over him, while he held the wizard.

"_NO!", his Uncle almost shouted at him, his eyes hard._

_Harry felt utterly confused and was at the verge of tears. What had gotten into his Uncle?_

_Dudley looked on curious._

_Young as he was, Harry still noticed the effort it took his Uncle to calm down._

"_No", Uncle Vernon said again in a calmer voice. "Harry, pick something else."_

The scenery changed again, they were back home.

"_You got the teddy, didn't you? Don't you like it?", his uncle tried to distract Harry – to no avail._

"_I do like it", the little boy confessed, hugging the teddy more tightly. "But I orig … originally chose the wizard!"_

_His uncle was silent for a while. Then, as if sharing a secret he leaned nearer to Harry, who was nestled in his arms comfortably._

"_I don't like wizards, but don't tell anyone!", he whispered._

"_I'm sorry, I don't like clowns. They are creepy, you know?", Harry told him._

_Then after a little pause he added: „I am a wizard, but I am not creepy, am I?"_

_Uncle Vernon's eyes widened. He quickly let go of the boy. Harry landed on the floor in a heap._

_Teary eyed he watched his Uncle edge away, till he faded in the distance._

Harry groaned a little and shifted about. Somewhere deep inside he knew he was dreaming. He now remembered the incident at the toy store, even if it had ended differently. Harry desperately wished to wake up. He wanted to assure himself his Uncle still loved him. He was the only father-figure he had. But something kept him from waking.

The scenery changed again.

_He was a big house, with fluffy carpets. There was a feeling of security about his whole surrounding. On the floor there was lying a long wooden stick. Harry grabbed it, trying to wave it around in patterns._

"_Put that away, darling", a woman's voice said. The voice made Harry feel more safe than he ever had in his short live. Instinctively he recognized his mother._

"_He will make a great wizard one day", a man laughed. A laugh that made Harry tingle with happiness. His father!_

"_I am sure he will!", the woman agreed, sounding proud._

_Suddenly there was a flash of green light and the woman and the man where gone. Darkness was all that was left behind and high, cackling laughter._

Harry awoke covered in sweat to Dudley shaking him.

Dudley had been terrified. The ruckus from Harry's had woken him and he had gone to look after his adopted brother. When he entered, Harry had been trashing about, tangled up in his blanket. Dudley had been frantically trying to wake the younger boy from his nightmares for a few minutes, before he finally opened his eyes.

Harry stared around wildly for a few seconds, terrified and confused. Then his eyes finally fixed on Dudley and recognition dawned in them. For a second they looked at each other, than Harry started shivering forcefully. Dudley took that as an invitation and entered the bed, cradling the slightly smaller boy to his chest, trying to warm him. After a few minutes Harry stopped shivering.

"Thank you", he whispered barely audible.

"Bad dream?", Dudley asked him.

"Yeah", Harry replied.

"Want to tell me about it?"

Harry thought for a moment if he ought to share his dream with his cousin, but then he decided to trust him. After all they were basically brothers!

Harry told him about his dream, but consciously left the part about his parents out.

"I don't think Dad would leave you, if he found out", Dudley told him, instinctively knowing, what bothered the other boy.

Harry only shrugged, clearly not convinced.

"It doesn't matter, though!", Dudley tried to cheer him up. "You are not a real wizard yet, as you haven't gone to that school. And we decided to hide your gift, meaning you won't ever be, so Dad has no reason to leave you", he argued.

Harry shrugged again, noncommittally.

In secret he wasn't so sure about that anymore. In his dream his parents had wanted him to be a wizard. They had sounded as if it would make them proud. Harry wanted to make his parents proud, but he didn't want to lose his brother or his foster parents! It seemed like an impossible choice.

Dudley noticed Harry was still pondering his dream and decided to distract him.

"So, ickle, little Harrykins is afraid of clowns?", he teased his younger brother.

"Prat", Harry countered, throwing a pillow at Dudley.

Soon they were involved in a vicious, but silent pillow fight (after all it was night and the Dursley's were sleeping).

Not even half an hour later they fell asleep, completely exhausted. All thoughts of Harry's dream forgotten – for now...

**Please review, it makes me really happy. What do you think about Harry's dream?**

**P.S. I know Harry was in his bed, when his parents died, it is only snippets of long forgotten memories coming back to Harry in sleep (if that makes any sense...)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Thanks for reading and the reviews, favourites and follows. You guys make my day.**

**Finally the next chapter...**

**Enjoy!**

The years went on quickly and soon Harry and Dudley were 10 years old.

All those years strange things kept happening at their primary school, mostly to the young bullies in the making. Still, those things were, if strange, decidedly non-magical.

And that was very lucky indeed.

More than once Dudley and Harry were caught. While they covered the black board with soapy water, so that you couldn't write on it. Nobody knew where they got the soap, as the soap in the toilets was long since empty.

They were caught after they positioned a bucket with blue water on the door of their classroom, but only after their arts teacher got wet. And only because they were laughing too hard to look innocent. It seemed like a lot of luck, that none of the pupil released the bucket beforehand. And so on.

In those years the Dursleys had been invited to school more than once. By now they knew the way to the directors office by heart. Still, Harry and Dudley never got into real trouble. Petunia and Vernon always shrugged the complains of the director away. "Boys will be boys," they thought.

But there were some pranks that made Petunia frown and look decidedly unhappy.

Somehow Harry was sure this was one of those pranks. They just had to make sure they weren't caught.

It was already midwinter, but it had yet to snow. That was why Harry and Dudley had decided to let it snow themselves. Yesterday they had spent the whole afternoon shredding old newspapers and some blank papers in little pieces. Well, Dudley had shredded them, while Harry somehow got them to multiply. Some of the pieces even looked like little snowflakes. They had then put the little flakes of paper into bags and hid them behind the containers with the waste paper of their school.

That was where they were now, while the two mischief makers were sitting in the classroom.

Both of them were having a hard time to concentrate on the lesson though. But while Dudley was brimming with excitement, barely suppressing a big grin, Harry was worrying about getting caught.

But both of them were glad, when the lesson was finally over. At the end of class they hurried out of the classroom, leaving even before their teacher.

They broke into a sprint for the waste container. Quickly each grabbed two bags of paper snow, then they made a beeline for the gym. When they got there Harry took Dudley's hand and both of the boys jumped as high as they could. Their eyes were closed and when they opened them again they found themselves on the roof of the gym.

For a moment they looked at each other in amazement. Still, this wasn't the time to dwell on it, the break would end in only ten more minutes!

Quickly both of the boys opened their bags and let the contents fall on the schoolyard. A swift breeze came up, making the paper dance like actual snow. The pupil on the ground stared in wonder, then some of them began to scoop up the fallen pieces and throw them back in the air and at their classmates and friends. They were enjoying themselves as if it were real snow. Dudley and Harry stood on the roof of the gym, grinning and enjoying the view over their little prank.

Unfortunately they forgot to duck. And while the teachers on the schoolyard, who were trying to figure out what just happened, couldn't see them, the director could.

When he looked out of the window of his office, to see what was all the laughter about, he saw the two self-satisfied boys standing on the roof of the gym.

As was to be expected only seconds later the door to the roof opened and a very angry school director got out. They were in deep trouble!

The two boys followed their director in silence. They already knew the way by heart.

As soon as the door closed behind them the director began to scold them.

"What were you thinking?! You can't just run around on the roof, it is dangerous! How did you even get up there?" the director asked them.

"The door was open...," Dudley lied.

"How convenient! The door was open just the day you happen to bring lots of ripped paper with you... How about you tell me the truth?" the director prompted.

Dudley squirmed uncomfortably under the glare the director was giving them. His mind frantically struggling to come up with a good cover story.

That was when Harry spoke up. It was his fault they even got on the roof, so he figured he should take the blame for it.

"I put a stone in the door, to stop it from closing," he said, looking their furious director straight in the eye.

The story was believable, still the director felt like he was missing something...

"Alright," the director sighed. "It was quite an amusing stunt you pulled, BUT you must never again go on a roof without an adult. It is dangerous, you could have fallen! As your punishment you will help the caretaker clean up the mess you've made. But if I ever catch you doing something like that again I will personally make sure you don't get off this easy. Also I will have to call your parents!"

Dudley and Harry hung their head.

"Now off you go," the director dismissed them. "And behave!"

Back in the classroom they were greeted by an excited Tim.

"That was great, guys! How did you even get up there?" He started talking as soon as they got near him.

Even if Tim didn't want to take part in the pranks it didn't mean he didn't like them...

Dudley and Harry grinned broadly.

"We used the door," they replied simply.

The rest of the school day the two boys almost forgot about the trouble they were in. As many of their schoolmates came to them, to congratulate them on the prank.

When they got home after cleaning up the director had already called the Dursleys.

But this time they didn't talk to their boys about it.

They only send the boys to their rooms and told them to stay there. Both boys got their dinner to eat upstairs. They were not to leave their rooms till the next day other than going to the toilet.

But what was the worst to Harry wasn't their punishment, but how his foster parents looked at him and only him, when they got home.

Uncle Vernon had looked like he was barely suppressing his anger, while aunt Petunia had just looked so incredible sad.

Their reaction to his magic seemed to get worse the older he got, as if they were waiting for something they feared.

Harry remembered the story how his mother had left his aunt and he felt very guilty for using magic despite what it had done to her.

On the other hand he couldn't just stop using magic. After all it was the only thing his parents left him, other than his looks.

**If you want to make me happy please review!**

**Next update: tomorrow :) **


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, what's _cursive _belongs to JK Rowling and is taken out of Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone.**

For some time life went on as normal, but not for long.

As the weeks went on things were getting tense in the Dursley's house.

Dudley had turned eleven some time ago. They had celebrated it at the zoo, where Harry had an interesting conversation with a snake. Dudley had thought it to be very cool, but none of them had dared to tell his parents.

The holidays had started and with no school to attend Harry and Dudley thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Everything would have been perfect, if it wasn't for the letters.

The letters the Dursleys tried to hide from the boys.

Of course it didn't work. They caught on after the first time Vernon threw one of the letters in the dishwasher, when the boys entered the kitchen.

Those letters were slowly getting the bane of their short lives. The letters would leave Vernon in an extremely bad mood for hours, while Petunia seemed to be caught between hurt, sadness and fear.

Both, Harry and Dudley, had long since figured out, what the letters had to be about.

"I wish they would at least let me see them," Harry grumbled. "I mean, we already know the school we will go to after the holidays!"

"Maybe they are afraid you will change your mind... Who wouldn't want to learn magic?" Dudley put in.

"If it means we will become like mum and Petunia were, I don't want to," Harry exclaimed hotly.

"Maybe we won't," Dudley mused. "We are not our parents. Still, I would like to have a look at these letters. I mean, they are from a school teaching magic! Do you think they teach you to see the future? Maybe they have dragons!"

"Or flying broomsticks!" Harry added.

Dudley laughed at him: "Flying broomsticks? Really?!"

"Could be possible," Harry insisted. "Right, let's have a look at these letters. But how do we get past uncle Vernon?"

They spent some time scheming. By the time they were called down for dinner, they had their plan.

This night they went to bed early, for the next morning they would have to be up before the post arrived.

Both of them knew Vernon would probably also be there, to intercept the letter, so they had decided to send one of them to distract Vernon, while the other got the letter. Harry had volunteered to take the brunt of Vernon's anger, arguing that it was after all his letter and their scheme would be a lot more believable this way. Dudley had grudgingly agreed with him.

So the next morning Harry made his way downstairs, 'accidentally' tripping over his uncle. Vernon sure knew how to be frightening, Harry thought as he watched his uncle turn as red as a tomato.

Mr Dursley sized the boy by his arm and took him to kitchen, ranting about sneaking around and trying to read letters that didn't concern him the whole time. It took some time till Harry could get a word in edgewise.

"I am sorry, uncle Vernon," the boy muttered, trying to look as apologetic and devastated as possible. It seemed to work.

Vernon Dursley gave him one look, sighed and finally said: "It's okay, but you have to promise me you won't try to touch those letters again!"

"I promise," Harry agreed readily. "I am sorry for treading on you..."

"It's alright. Off you go then, it is still to early for you to run around!" Vernon send him back to bed.

When he arrived at his room Dudley was already waiting for him.

"What took you so long?" He asked. "Go on, open it."

But as Dudley went to give the letter to Harry, he refused. "You open it."

"Why?" Dudley asked curiously and maybe even a bit distrustful.

"I promised uncle Vernon not to touch them."

Dudley didn't need another invitation, quickly he opened the letter and began to read out loud:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr Potter, _ _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. _ _Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. _ _Yours sincerely, _

_Minerva McGonagall _

_Deputy Headmistress _

"You have been accepted, they write," Harry grumbled, after his cousin finished. "They make it sound like anybody would love to go to their school."

Dudley ignored him, beginning to skim the page attached to the letter.

"Wow," he exclaimed after reading quietly for a few moments. "They teach you to make real potions! And Defence Against The Dark Arts sounds great!"

Harry didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but want to go...

After some more quiet reading Dudley started laughing.

"They really want you to wear a pointed head and robes. And they have wands and brooms. I bet the brooms can fly, I would love to see that!" He exclaimed and for the first time he understood how his mother must have felt.

His face fell.

Harry only shrugged noncommittally. There was no way he could leave Dudley behind.

Their conversation came to an halt and soon Dudley went to bed.

Harry stayed awake that night, staring at the letter.

There was no denying it, Hogwarts sounded like a great place to go. The boy felt torn.

On one side, he really wanted to go. In Hogwarts he might even meet people, who knew his father!

But knowing Dudley wanted to go too, but couldn't and knowing what happened to his mother, he wasn't so sure anymore. There was every possibility that if he went, he would lose his foster family too. Could he really risk that?

A week later Dumbledore was getting nervous. He knew Harry Potter got his letter, but he had yet to send his reply! It was highly unnerving. Normally new students would reply within a day. Dumbledore also knew that there was every chance the Dursleys had tried to keep Harry from going. So he decided that after almost 10 years it was time to check up on the boy.

Tomorrow would be his birthday and also the deadline for the positive answers regarding the letter. A good time for a visit from the magical world.

Dumbledore nodded, he would send Hagrid and in no time he would have Harry's letter, saying he wanted to go to Hogwarts.

**Next chapter on Wednesday. Entrance Hagrid :)**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

**Disclaimer: After all this time I still don't own Harry Potter.**

Hagrid always felt honored when Dumbledore would choose him for his 'special missions'. But this time he was really, really happy about it. He was going to surprise Harry on his birthday. He hadn't seen Lily's and James' son for ten years now. Back then he had only been a tiny scrap, barely as big as Hagrid's finger. Hagrid would have liked to see the boy sooner, but Dumbledore hadn't wanted him to, had said, that his relatives wouldn't be pleased.

Now that he would see Harry again, he would make it right, he thought, while baking the boy a birthday cake.

Point 3 o'clock pm, the Dursley's doorbell rang. When Petunia went to open the door, she almost stumbled back in shock. Looming over their entrace was a giant of a man carrying a pink umbrella and a package. The package wasn't all that small, but looked so in the man's huge hands.

"Hullo m'dam," the giant greeted. "'m here to speak to Harry, t's about the letters."

Quickly Hagrid was ushered inside by Petunia, hitting his head on one of their lamps in the progress.

What would the neighbours think, if they saw him standing out there?!

Harry's birthday had been surprisingly pleasant so far.

Even though he had woken up in a glum mood, still thinking about the letter.

Things had been different between Dudley and him since they read the letter. Harry thought, that maybe he was getting a taste of what their relation would be like, should he accept.

Both boys had carefully avoided bringing the letter up, but as a result there had been this akward silence between them.

Harry and Dudley had played together still, like they always did, but had been easily distracted. Dudley always seemed a bit down these days.

But on his birthday everything was back to normal.

Dudley had woken him with a pillow in his face and had seemingly put thoughts about the letter aside for now. The boys had had more fun, than they had all week.

They were just about to start on the cake, when the door bell rang and Petunia went to check on the door. When she came back she was really pale and followed by a giant, hairy man.

Dudley and Harry looked at the man openmouthed, Vernon was about to choke on his coffee.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!" The men said to the raven haired boy, a lot friendlier than he looked.

"How do you know, who I am?" The boy asked, a bit bewildered.

"Ev'rybody know's in our world," the giant laughed.

"Our world? You mean the magical society?" Harry asked. Then, as an afterthought he added: "Who are you? And how would they all know me?"

The giant's black beetle eyes twinkled in amusement.

"You're right, didn't introduce myself, did I? I'm Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of the grounds of Hogwarts. But you can call me Hagrid, everybody does that," Hagrid started. "So you know about magic, huh, that's good. And yes, every child in the magic world knows your name."

He made a little break in his speach there, after all it was a lot to wrap your head around.

Harry looked at him seriously. "It's about how my parents died, isn't it."

Hagrid's face fell, Petunia sobbed and Dudley, as eager as Harry to learn about the Potters, leant forward.

"Yes," Hagrid sayed quietly, himself barely suppressing a sob. "Lily and James Potter, the best and friendliest people one could meet."

"What happened to my parents," Harry asked again.

"It's not an easy story to tell, maybe you want to eat some cake first? I backed you a birthday cake," Hagrid tried to stall, but Harry only looked at him.

Hagrid sighed. "I wish you could learn about this from someone else, but I will just have to try and tell you."

And he told Harry everything he knew about the deaths of Lily and James Potter on one Halloween eve.

When he finished Petunia was in tears, having just learned, how her little sister died. Vernon was attemting to sooth her. Dudley edged closer to Harry in a protective manner, after all there was a very likely still alive, magical madman out there, ready to kill his brother.

Harry blinked, blinked again, then swallowed. It really was a lot to take in.

The silence stretched until Harry spoke again: "I think I would like some cake now. And Hagrid, if you knew my dad, can you tell me about him?"

Hagrid smiled gently at him: "Of course."

And soon after they were all sitting around the kitchen table, eating cake and listening to Hagrid's stories. Even Petunia and Vernon were there, not knowing how they got into that situation, not knowing how to get out of it. They just couldn't deny their nephew and adopted son to learn about his father.

The afternoon went by quickly. Harry was thrilled to learn, that his father had been quiet the mischief maker and both boys listened enrapt, when Hagrid began to tell them about Hogwarts and Dumbledore. Their plans to go indoor climbing for Harry's birthday were forgotten.

It was already nearing dinner time, when Hagrid said goodbye.

"See you tomorrow, Harry. I will be here around 10, to take you shopping for your school supplies."

Harry's face fell and he sounded a bit sad, when he said: "It's really nice of you, Hagrid, and I would like to see you again, but I won't be going to Hogwarts."

"What? Why?" Hagrid was shocked, the Dursley's were surprised. Lily's and James' son didn't want to go to Hogwarts?!

"I don't want to leave my family behind," he stated simply.

"You would see them in the holidays," Hagrid reasoned.

"It won't be the same," Harry said with a look toward his brother.

And Hagrid nodded, understanding dawning in his eyes. He now remembered how often Lily Potter, back then Evans, had been in his hut. Half of the times she had complained about James Potter, but the other half she had been crying because of her sister.

"Dumbledore'll wanna speak to you 'bout that", the half-giant said gently. "Maybe you can work something out." With that he stepped out of the door and seconds later he was gone.

Harry turned back toward his family.

Petunia and Vernon looked dumbstruck but moved.

Dudley looked him straight in the eye. "Thank you."

**Alright, to those of you, who would like the story to end this way: Don't read on and consider this the final chapter.**

**HOWEVER: This ISN'T THE END of the story, there are two more chapter to go. Next chapter hopefully in two weeks.**

**Please tell me what you think about it so far.**

**And yes, Dumbledore will make his entrance next chapter.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17:**

**Disclaimer: Still own none of the HP characters or anything you might recognize.**

**Contains slight spoilers for the end of book five or book six.**

**As promised the next chapter :)**

Albus Dumbledore, most likely most powerful wizard of his time, was shocked. Harry Potter, the boy who lived, son of Lily and James Potter, didn't want to go to Hogwarts. Never in his whole time at Hogwarts, first as a teacher now as Headmaster, had he come upon a child who didn't want to go to a magical school. Sure, a few of the Muggle parents weren't thrilled, but their children always wanted to go. Who wouldn't want to learn magic?! Well, Harry Potter apparently.

If he was honest with himself, Dumbledore never thought the Dursleys would treat their nephew well enough that he would want to stay with them. Had he thought of that possibility, he might have foreseen the troubles. Hagrid had told him why Harry didn't want to go. Knowing the about Lily and her muggle sister, he knew it wouldn't be easy to get Harry to Hogwarts.

Dumbledore sighed. Had it been any other child he would have left him alone, but Harry Potter was needed in the magical world. The old wizard had revisited his memory of the prophecy. There was no doubt Harry was the Chosen one, the one to beat Voldemort. He needed Harry to learn magic at all costs.

Feeling rather tired the Headmaster wrote a letter, announcing his visit at the Dursley's.

It was only after Dudley went to bed the evening of Harry's birthday, that he realized something: There was a fully trained, mad wizard after Harry!

And while his little brother could do quite some magic, he most certainly wouldn't stand much of a change against this Voldemort.

Within seconds he was out of bed and in Harry's room.

"You need to go to Hogwarts!" He blurted out, waking Harry, who looked at him sleepily.

"Why?" The younger boy asked, still not fully awake.

"You need to learn to defend yourself against Voldemort!"

"He probably won't even go after me. When I don't know magic I won't be a threat. You are overreacting, go back to bed, Dud," Harry groaned.

"He attacked you when you were still a baby. If he saw you as a threat back then, he will still see you as dangerous," Dudley argued.

"And I survived back then. How dangerous can someone be who can't even kill a baby?!"

"Harry...," Dudley started, but was interrupted.

"I just don't want to lose you!" Harry exclaimed, looking at the verge of tears.

"You won't, no matter what," Dudley promised, hugging his younger brother.

It took some time till Harry spoke again: "Alright, I will think about it."

"But first I want to see what this Headmaster will offer me," he added with a mischievous grin.

"How do you know he will even come?" Dudley asked.

"Please," Harry replied in a teasing tone. "I am the savior of the wizarding world! Of course he will come."

Dudley laughed a this. "Good night, oh savior of the light," he offered, before he went to bed, feeling a little more at ease.

Sure enough Dumbledore's owl reached them the next morning. The professor wanted to visit on the 4th of July at point 3pm.

While the Dursley's didn't like the prospect of a wizard in their house, their two boys convinced them to meet Dumbledore. Dudley by telling them Harry needed to learn to defend himself and Harry by arguing he might find a way to show Dudley Hogwarts.

They send the owl back, agreeing to the meeting.

Sure enough Dumbledore turned up at the Dursley's doorstep at the time they agreed on. Vernon, who went to open the door, frowned at the man's purple robes, but didn't say anything.

Dudley looked at the man interested, as he entered the kitchen. The wizards eyes were twinkling in a friendly, relaxed way, as he greeted Petunia and him. Still Dudley noticed, that the man was aware he wasn't exactly welcome here. Also when he eyed Harry his eyes got a sharper look to them. He was already planning how to get Harry to join the wizarding world.

Dudley couldn't tell if his little brother noticed the change too. On the outside Harry looked calm, even a bit sceptical, while Dudley knew he was actually brimming with excitement. If Harry wasn't so loyal and stubborn it would be a piece of cake to get him to go to Hogwarts.

Albus Dumbledore however couldn't know that.

When he watched Harry he didn't know what to think of him. While he looked quite like James, unlike his father he managed to hide his thoughts. With James Dumbledore had almost always known what he thought, the man couldn't hide his feelings for his life. It had gotten him and his friends caught many times for the pranks they pulled. The Headmaster chuckled fondly at the memory.

Harry however wore, what some might describe as a pureblood mask. It was curious, as he was raised by his muggle relatives... Or maybe he got that from his mother. While fiery and generally quite open with her feelings, she had been able to hide them.

As Dumbledore drifted off, musing about the past, the Dursleys sat down with them.

So far his visit was going surprisingly well and a lot better than he had thought possible. While it was obvious Petunia still held a grudge and her husband thus didn't like him too, they had been very civil so far.

When he looked at them, sitting opposite him, Dumbledore smiled. Dudley was sitting on Harry's right side, Petunia and Vernon sitting left and right of the boys. It was clear Harry Potter had found a family here. Never would the old wizard have expected that, but it made him happy none the less.

The silence dragged on, until Harry spoke. "So, why are you here, Mister Dumbledore?"

It wasn't lost on the wizard, that the boy neither called him Headmaster nor Professor, making it quite clear he didn't intend to go to his school.

"Well, young Harry," he began. "Coming straight to the point, just like your father, I see. I am here to invite you to my school personally."

Dumbledore had long since decided to go at it carefully. Kind of testing the water first, or what was the muggle saying?

"As I already told Hagrid: I don't want to go. I won't leave my family behind," the boy stated calmly.

"Harry, I think Hagrid told you your role in the wizarding world, didn't he?" Dumbledore ventured.

The boy looked uncomfortable, but remained stubborn: "That doesn't change anything."

"Oh but it does, young Harry," Dumbledore continued. "Everyone else, every single student has a choice, if he wants to go. And mind you, you are the first who doesn't want to go to Hogwarts. Unfortunately you are also the only one who isn't given a real choice."

Dumbledore paused a moment, letting the statement sink in. Harry crossed his arms and frowned while the rest of his family glared at the wizard.

"Harry, the wizarding world needs you. You are destined to go to Hogwarts. Voldemort is most certainly still out there somewhere and you may well be the only one who can defeat him. People will die in the war, because there are some who won't bow to the evil. You will be needed," Dumbledore tried to convince him. He felt slightly bad, for burdoning the young boy in front of him like that. Oh, how he wished, he wouldn't have to tell him. To let him grow up, thinking he was like any other boy, despite the fact he defeated Voldemort. But it couldn't be, Harry needed to go to Hogwarts - at all costs.

"Why me?" Harry asked. "There must be many older, more experienced wizards out there."

"Because Voldemort chose you, giving you that scar," Dumbledore explained as gently as possible.

"Even if we should be able to defeat Voldemort without you, you won't be safe. You have to learn how to defend yourself and your family. The wards I put up, linked to the blood you and your aunt share, will only hold till you turn seventeen. And as much as I would like to, I can't promise you Voldemort will be defeated till then."

Harry looked at the Headmaster, his green orbs showing his feelings for the first time. Dumbledore was shocked by the intensity of the emotions.

"You know, what happened between mum and aunt Petunia," Harry stated. "Dudley is like a brother to me. I lost my first family, I can't lose them too."

Petunia put an reassuring arm around the raven haired boys shoulder, while Dudley inched closer and Vernon hovered protectively near his family.

"It is you choice, Harry," Petunia said. "But I don't want you to go, so you can protect us. If you choose not to go we will find a way through the danger together."

Dumbledore was impressed. Petunia clearly was more like her sister than anyone would have thought.

Silence reigned for a while, they were all leaving the choice to Harry.

After thinking for some time Harry spoke.

"I can see why you want me to go to Hogwarts. But Dudley wants to see that school, too. And I can't really leave him behind."

Than, as if he had just thought of it he added: "Maybe if Dudley could visit me there..."

Dumbledore sighed. He knew allowing Harry's cousin to visit was the only way to get Harry to agree. While it was not common for Muggles to visit at Hogwarts, it was not unheard off. Muggle parents were of course allowed to visit their children in special situations, if they got hurt for example. Still, visits for fun were frowned upon and generally not allowed by the teachers. If he allowed the Dursley boy in, he would have to allow other siblings too. Dumbledore knew he was getting in a lot of trouble, but the wizarding world kind of depended on Harry. That was why he said: "Alright, if that's what it takes for you to go to Hogwarts, I will allow Dudley to visit."

"A week in the spring holidays each year?" Harry asked innocently.

Dumbledore sighed, but agreed.

"Could you please write that down for me, like a contract?" Harry ventured and Dumbledore willingly complied. He would have kept his promise either way, he was a Gryffindor at heart after all.

"Then I will gladly go to Hogwarts," Harry told him. "Thank you, professor."

Dumbledore smiled at him, then at the rest of his family. "Good, I am looking forward to it. Now that we agreed on that, I'll better be on my way. Hagrid will come by tomorrow, to pick up your school supplies. Petunia, Mr. Dursley, boys, have a good evening," and with one last wink the greatest wizard of the world left their kitchen.

Back in his office at Hogwarts Dumbledore thought about Harry Potter. The boy was certainly something else. Dumbledore was well aware he had been played. The boy who lived had pulled it off like a true Slytherin. Also the boy was clever. Ravenclaw clever? The old wizard didn't know. He knew however Harry's emotions had been true. He was loyal to his family like a Hufflepuff. The reason Harry didn't want to go had clearly been his family. He didn't flee from the responsibility that being the boy who lived brought. He would gladly fight for this world and the people he loved, like his father, like a Gryffindor. Dumbledore was really curious in which house Harry would end up. While the headmaster silently hoped and believed it to be Gryffindor, he could rule out neither of the other houses, as his visit had shown him.

Right now, though, he had more pressing problems. He had to tell the schoolboard and the other professors of their new visitor days for muggle siblings. Even though he had probably saved them all with it, none of them would be pleased. Dumbledore sighed, being Headmaster and leader of the light was difficult sometimes.

Back in Privet Drive Harry and his family tried to wrap their heads around all those new information.

"Are you mad at me, for going to Hogwarts?" Harry asked his aunt and uncle timidly.

Petunia and Vernon looked at each other, then at Harry. They both found there was only one answer they could give the boy. Harry had grown to be their second son.

"No Harry," Vernon finally replied. "I am sure wizards are not all bad. Being a wizard is nothing to be afraid of."

Harry sighed in relief, his uncle still liked him.

"You did well, Harry," Petunia continued. "And we are very proud of you. We will still love you, whatever happens. Just do your best at your new school, like any other student."

Suddenly Harry looked worried again. "But I won't be like any other student... The Headmaster made it sound, like I carry the responsibility for the whole wizarding society."

"You are still a child and no child has to carry responsibility for someone else then him or herself," Petunia told him.

"Just do what you see right. We might not be able to do much, but we will help you, in whatever way we can," Vernon assured him.

"And Voldemort is not there right now, so you will have some time, till you must deal with that," Dudley cheered him up. After a little pause, he jumped at his little brother.

Hugging him, he sang: "We are going to see Hogwarts!"

And in that moment Harry Potter was happy. He didn't care about the responsibility he might have to carry in the future. He had a loving aunt and uncle and he wouldn't lose his brother.

In that moment Harry Potter looked forward to going to a magical school like any other 11 year old witch or wizard. He was sure Hogwarts was going to be great!

**The end? Not really, more like the beginning!**

**The story I have to tell however is almost finished. Next chapter will be the Epilogue.**

**I hope you liked it and look forward to bonus chapter.**


	18. Chapter 18

_**My story Visiting days at Hogwarts is now online. It is kind of a short contuniation of this fic.**_

**Epilogue**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from The Philosophers Stone isn't mine, but JK Rowlings.**

**And again I want to apologize for the long wait.**

**So, this is it, the last chapter of Family... The first of my longer fanfictions to get finished (the others will follow soon).**

**Enjoy!**

2nd September

_Dear Dudley,_

_Hogwarts is great! I am sorry I didn't write sooner, but when we got to our dorms yesterday, I was just to tired and this morning I was busy trying to find my way to the classrooms._

_Honestly, they should give us a map or something!_

_You remember the houses we read about in Hogwarts a History? Well, I got sorted into Gryffindor! _

_The Sorting Hat..._

_Oh, right I should probably tell you about the Sorting. Well, it was kinda anticlimatic. We just had to try on this old, speaking hat, that was enchanted by the founders to sort the students. It was kinda reading our minds I guess and I could hear it talking in my head. Apparently I wouldn't fit into either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw (not that I am too sad about it...)._

_It didn't know if I should be in Gryffindor or Slytherin, but when it viewed my memories about the meeting with Dumbledore, it decided on Gryffindor. You know, what I said to Dumbledore. That I wouldn't go to Hogwarts if you didn't get to visit. I would have gone through with it. The hat said, only a Gryffindor could be reckless enough to do that. A Slytherin would have been bluffing. _

_I guess you would be a good Slytherin, Dud. Don't ask me why, just a feeling._

_Lessons are interesting, but hard. And I think the potions teacher hates me..._

_How is Smeltings?Did you already make friends?_

_The other boys from my dorm are alright and I am already good friends with one of them: Ron._

_He is from a real wizarding pureblood family, but not even a bit stuck up._

_I have to go now, Ron and I want to explore the castle, so maybe we can be on time for classes tomorrow..._

_Hope you are having a great time, too. Please write soon and give Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon my love._

_Sincerely,_

_your little lion brother Harry._

1st November

_Dear Dudley,_

_I hope you had a happy Halloween. Mine was sure special!_

_I am friends with Hermione Granger (yes, the annoying know-it-all) and Draco Malfoy (the Slytherin bully) now. No, I am not joking!_

_But I guess I should just tell you what happened._

_A troll got into the castle during the feast (yes, they are real and they really, really stink!). Of course we were all sent to our dorms immediately, but Hermione didn't know about it, because she was hiding on the girls toilet (Let's just say, Ron was thinking too loud. He can be quite rude...). Ron and I went to warn her. Unfortunately the troll got there before us. We had to distract the troll or it would have killed Hermione. We were successful, maybe a bit too successful. Because unfortunately the troll was attacking us now and already had us in a corner, when Draco turned up and saved us. Turns out he saw us leave and followed to get us into trouble. Anyway, together we managed to knock the thing out. The teachers weren't too pleased, however, so today we had detention together. Even though Hermione tried to take the blame. It didn't work, but it was nice of her to try._

_Draco can be quite funny,if he want's too and he isn't half bad, if you get to know him better._

_Well, defeating death together has a way of letting you forget your differences._

_Hermione thinks the troll was only a distraction. Someone tried to steal, whatever the dog hides..._

_I will tell you when I know more._

_I hope you are having a good time at home. Write soon,_

_Greetings to aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon,_

_your brother Harry_

_Dear Dudley,_

_guess what? It seems the Philosophers stone is real and hidden at Hogwarts! A stone to give eternal life and as much gold as you want. WOW! Maybe we are going to try and get it. Holding it just one time would be so cool! But that's not the real reason. Someone or something is after the stone (maybe Snape, you know, the potions prof) and they know where it is hidden. Such a stone in the wrong hands would be terrible, so we might try and hide it elsewhere. But right now we will just wait, after all it is Dumbledore protecting it... Still I got a bad feeling about this. What do you think we should do?_

_Say hello to aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon from me._

_Best wishes,_

_your brother Harry_

_Dear Dudley,_

_I can't wait for your visit, so I can show you Hogwarts. It will be great! I can take you flying on a real broom and show you some of the secret passages. Wait till you see the moving staircases and talking portraits and the ghosts..._

_Can't wait for the train to arrive._

_See you later,_

_Harry._

Dudley smiled as he read the letter Harry had sent that morning. He was already standing in the living room of Privet Drive 4, his luggage in front of him. Today he was going to see Hogwarts!

The young boy couldn't stand still, he was just too excited. After his mother chased him out of the kitchen, he had taken to pacing the living room.

In the kitchen Petunia Dursley was still preparing some food for Dudley, so he wouldn't get too hungry on the long train ride. Or worse - would stuff himself with sweets. The train wouldn't leave till eleven, there was still time.

Vernon had already said good bye to their son and went to work. Petunia would bring him to King's Cross. She was going to miss her little boy, even if it was only for three days. The house was already empty enough, without Harry.

It was almost 11 o'clock. Petunia and her son Dudley were standing at platform 9 ¾. Soon Dudley would board the train, the train that would bring him to Hogwarts.

One last hug, a kiss and Dudley got onto the train, searching for an empty compartment.

"Behave! And give Harry my love!" Petunia shouted after her son.

"Yes, mum," her boy replied, sounding a bit annoyed. Then the train started and carried him away.

Petunia watched the train leave with mixed feelings. Of course she was happy for her boys. Harry was about dying to show his cousin the school. And she knew Dudley wanted to see the castle as much as she had.

Suddenly Petunia felt a pang of envy. Her son was off to see Hogwarts, the school she was never allowed to go. How was that fair? Why couldn't Lily have done for her, what Harry did for Dudley. Lily had been her real sister after all, strictly speaking Dudley and Harry were just cousins! Maybe Lily hadn't cared for her sister enough. Maybe she had been too self-absorbed and too happy to be in the spotlight to care. After all Lily had suddenly been their parents favourite.

A moment later Petunia was ashamed for those thoughts.

Her boys were as much siblings as Petunia and Lily had been, maybe even more so. Also Petunia began to comprehend, that Lily couldn't have forced her siblings way to Hogwarts, like Harry had done.

For Lily there had been no past experiences to learn from. How should Lily have known, that going to Hogwarts meant to lose her sister? Had she known, would it have changed her decision?

Petunia didn't know.

But if it had, what could Lily have done?

There would have been no chance to get Petunia permission to see Hogwarts. Harry had enforced the Visiting days, but Harry was the saviour of the wizarding world...

Of course Lily couldn't do that. For her it was going alone or not going at all.

Petunia couldn't really begrudge her for that anymore. Slowly, after all these years she began to see, that it had been her jealousy that had destroyed the bond between the sisters – not Dumbledore, not Lily's letter.

And Petunia started to cry. She cried for the sister she had lost.

But when she finally stopped crying, she found that she felt better.

She felt glad, that Harry took the chance to go to Hogwarts. After all her boy was happy there, with his own. Also he needed to learn to protect himself.

And she was glad at least her son got to see the magical castle. She was sure he would love it and when he was back home, he could tell her all about it.

Slowly Petunia realized that she didn't want to see Hogwarts anymore. After all she would only get invited if Harry got in trouble or worse, hurt! The price would be too high.

Little did she know how often she would see the castle the next years...

Petunia Dursley got into her car and drove off to Godric's Hollow. It was time to visit her sisters grave. Maybe it wasn't too late to apologize...

**The end!**

**Hey guys, I want to thank you for your support. Thanks for staying with my story for such a long time. Thanks for all the reviews, the follows and favourites. Thank you for your thoughts, corrections (I am going to proof read the story to get things right soon) and critics. Those always pushed me back towards my Laptop to write. Without you I would never have finished this story!**

**You are the best :***

**Until next time!**

**Yours sincerely,**

**CrazyFM**

**PS: Check my account, if you want to read about the visiting days, I am going to upload a short sequel in October.**


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